Key defenders Craig Bolton and Lewis Roberts-Thomson missed the Swans’ 53-point loss to Geelong through injury while emerging regular Nick Smith also watched from the sidelines.
With so many familiar faces absent, there appeared to be a lack of cohesion at times in the first quarter as Cats stars Steve Johnson and Gary Ablett tormented the Swans’ defence.
“Lewie and Smooch (Nick Smith) will be back soon but we need other blokes to stand up. We can’t just accept that if guys are out, we play badly,” Mattner said after Saturday night’s game.
“We’ve just got to rely on whoever is playing. You pick them for a reason and everyone can play their position pretty well.
“We’ve just got to stick together now. It’s going to be a tough two weeks so the biggest thing now is staying together as a team and a club, too.”
Despite the Swans’ defence being under siege for extended periods, Mattner and fellow running defender Tadhg Kennelly committed themselves to providing their usual creativity from the backline.
He conceded the Cats’ pressure made it “a tough night” but he insisted a positive mindset was the only way to improve.
“Our turnovers probably cost us so it probably didn’t look good from an outside view but we tried to stay together, stay positive and trying to keep running off and providing options down the back, which we probably didn’t do last week,” he said.
Mattner had the best seat in the house as Geelong piled on eight goals in the third quarter from some remarkable play but he said the Swans had unfortunately done their part in assisting the Cats’ onslaught.
Despite the result, he echoed his coach Paul Roos in applauding the increased application from the Swans and said there were good signs for this Saturday’s crucial clash against Hawthorn at the SCG.
“The effort was a bit more there than it was last week and that’s been reflected in the score. We’ve just got to stay together and stay positive,” he said.
“Our effort was there in the first half, it was just a few execution things that cost us. If we can tidy those things up and effort’s there, we’ll be all right.”
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